8 Out of 10 US Cosmetics Buyers Want to Import Korean Beauty Products

          -  KITA’s New York Center conducted a survey of the buyers who participated in the International Beauty Show in the US -

It appears that Korean companies need to make more active entry into the US market as more than 80 percent of American cosmetics buyers want to import Korean beauty products.

The New York Center of the Korea International Trade Association (Chairman, Kim In-ho) conducted a survey of 105 US buyers who visited KITA’s promotion booth in the International Beauty Show held in New York for two days from March 12^th to 13^th. The survey was designed to evaluate the awareness of Korean beauty products (basic cosmetics, makeup products, cosmetic devices, etc.) and their competitiveness.

The survey results shows that 81 percent of respondents (10 percent of them is currently importing Korean products and 71 percent of them is considering for future imports) are willing to import Korean beauty products, based on their excellent quality and price competitiveness. The main reasons for the US buyers to deal with Korean companies are quality and price satisfaction (59%). By category, basic cosmetics (37%) appear to be the most competitive, followed by hair products (23%) and make-up cosmetics (21%).

According to the survey, the first thing that the US buyers consider when they choose a business partner (for imports) is the quality of the products (64%), and the price (11%) and reliability of the partner (11%) are also important considerations. In order for Korean companies to expand their exports to the US, 54 percent of the respondents said that publicity and marketing activities should be strengthened, and 23 percent of the participants suggested that new product development were required in line with market trends.

In particular, as the US buyers prefer to participate in exhibitions in the US in order to find their business partners (54%), Korean companies need to not only carry out publicity and marketing activities utilizing e-commerce but also actively participate in exhibitions such as beauty shows held in the United States.

Meanwhile, Korea's exports to the US in 2016 decreased by 2.6% to 69.9 billion dollars from the previous year, but the exports of cosmetics (based on HS code 3304) increased by 46.1% to 300.17 million dollars year-on-year.

Park Sung-hwan, head of the New York Center of KITA said "As a number of US buyers have expressed their willingness to import Korean cosmetics products, the exports of cosmetics will continue to increase." He also added "The Korea International Trade Association will actively support the 2017 New York beauty products showcase, market research and discovery of new buyers who are interested in Korean beauty products, and provide consultation matching service to help Korean cosmetics companies to make inroads into the US market."